Rediscovering Rest

by Mark Earley

Only a few hours of technological abstinence had passed, but
already Mark felt twitchy. His laptop lay abandoned, but almost
as badly as a nicotine addict wants a cigarette, he was itching to
go online, make a phone-call,
send a text-message, do something.

But then something odd happened.

With the uninterrupted time, Mark found himself better able to think,
to reflect, and perhaps strangest of all, to experience a feeling of calm
that had gone AWOL from his modern life. The New York Times columnist
Mark Bittman is one of a whole host of people discovering what some are
terming a "secular Sabbath."

Men and women who have not darkened the door of a synagogue or church
for years are finding a need for a day of real rest--disconnecting from the
almost omnipresent technological advances of Blackberries and wireless Internet.

Bittman is not the only one lamenting what America lost when
the culture of Sabbath observance became a thing of the past.
Judith Shulevitz in Slate Magazine waxes poetic about the loss
also: "The texture of that day off is hard to conjure up now, because
contemporary life offers little like it," she says. "For 24 hours, we
stayed home and ate huge family dinners, went to church, or set
off on afternoon drives . . ."

She goes on to admit, "We had fewer choices, but that lack of
choice may have been more liberating than we realized, because
having the option of working or shopping often brings with it the
nagging sense that if you're not working , you should be . . . "

It is not surprising--is it?--that the people of all walks of life are
discovering a need for Sabbath rest once again. As it says in
Exodus 23, God intended that man and even animals should be
"refreshed" by keeping the Sabbath. Rest was woven into the fabric
of creation. And what we find as we take time off from the rhythms
of work is--as the old Hebrew saying goes--not that we keep the
Sabbath, but that the Sabbath keeps us.

That is a reality Americans can understand. We are starved for rest
as never before, getting an average of just six-and-a-half hours of sleep
a night, a 25-percent drop since the early 1900s. To make up for it,
we rev up on Red Bull, Starbucks, No-Doz, sodas--you name it. No
wonder people are craving the physical and mental health benefits
of a day of rest.

But here is the opportunity you and I have. We know that not only
is the Sabbath meant for refreshment, but it is also a much deeper,
grander sign of our need for spiritual rest. Back in Exodus 31, God
called the Sabbath an "eternal sign." He created it--along with many
other things--as a reminder of our need for Him.

So consider how you and your family might rediscover the Sabbath.
And as our secular friends discover their need for rest--or suffer from
lack of it--let us use it as an opportunity to talk about how the soul
itself will be, as St. Augustine put it, restless until it finds its rest in God.

Mark Earley

Mark Earley, 50, former State Senator (1987-1997) and Attorney
General of Virginia (1998-2001), became president of Prison
Fellowship on February 1, 2002.

As President and CEO of Prison Fellowship USA, Earley oversees
the national ministry founded by Charles Colson in 1976, which has
since spread to 108 countries in addition to the United States. Prison
Fellowship's core commitments are Fellowshipping with Jesus, Visiting
Prisoners, and Welcoming Their Children. In line with these commitments,
PF works with thousands of churches and volunteers across the U.S.
to disciple prisoners and prepare them to re-enter the community; to
minister year-round to prisoners' children through Christmas, camping,
and mentoring programs; and to help redeem the culture by embracing,
defending, and applying a clear biblical worldview.


You can contact Mark via the Prison Fellowship website at:  http://www.pfm.org